Short Answer Questions

4. What is the lifestyle change that Jerome makes when he moves to his hundred acres in the woods?

5. What is unique about Jerome's front wndow?

Short Essay Questions

1. After carving Charmine's gravestone, what is Jerome inspired to do next? Why?

2. What does Jerome gather from Old Grouch's behavior while the baby skunks are under the house? What might his conclusions reveal about his own past?

3. Write a short essay about the subtle clues regarding Jerome's life. This is something of a fantasy story, but there are real life elements that are only mentioned in passing. What are they, and what do they indicate?

4. What does Jerome assume about the status of Papa skunk when the new babies arrive?

5. How does Jerome deal with the rats who have nested in his wall?

6. Why would a person use a store window for the front of his home?

7. What might Jerome mean when he tells Old Grouch that he was "licked" when he arrived here?

8. What makes Emma so contentious and determined to battle with Donald Cabot?

9. What breaks the ice between Jerome Kildee and Emma Lou Eppy?

10. Although Jerome has given up stonecutting, his reaction to making Charmine's gravestone is interesting. Discuss what might be happening in this regard.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Jerome Kildee a poor man? If not, how does the reader know? Do a careful reading of the story and find passages that reveal hints about Jerome's financial status, and draw your conclusions in a persuasive essay.

Essay Topic 2

Based upon the date the story was written, speculate the origins of the Eppy family. Could they have been refugees from the dust bowl disaster? Consider Emma Lou's propensity to carry on a feud, as well as her family yell. Compose a fictional account of the Eppys' journey to northern California.

Essay Topic 3

The two children in the story, Emma Lou Eppy and Donald Roger Cabot, are sworn enemies who deliberately think of ways to hurt one another. Is this an example of normal adolescent flirtation, or is there something more that separates the two children? What makes them so different from one another? Is there an underlying cause, besides a difference of opinion about hunting?